1648.J IROQUOIS SUICIDE. 347 



treaty, one of the Onondagas accompanying them. 

 Soon there came dire tidings. The prophetic heart 

 of the old chief had not deceived him. Tlie Sen- 

 ecas and Mohawks, disregarding negotiations in 

 which they had no part, and resolved to bring 

 them to an end, were invading the country in 

 force. It might be thought that the Hurons would 

 take their revenge on the Onondaga eiivoys, now 

 hostages among them ; but they did not do so, for 

 the character of an ambassador was, for the most 

 part, held in respect. One morning, however, 

 Scandawati had disappeared. They were full of 

 excitement ; for they thought that he had escaped 

 to the enemy. They ranged the woods in search 

 of him, and at length found him in a thicket near 

 the town. He lay dead, on a bed of spruce-boughs 

 which he had made, his throat deeply gashed with 

 a knife. He had died by his own hand, a victim 

 of mortified pride. '^ See," writes Father Rague- 

 neau, " how much our Indians stand on the point 

 of honor !"i 



We have seen that one of his two colleagues 

 had set out for Onondaga with a deputation of six 

 Hurons. This party was met by a hundred Mo- 

 hawks, who captured them all and killed the six 

 Hurons, but spared the Onondaga, and compelled 

 him to join them. Soon after, they made a sudden 

 onset on about three hundred Hurons journeying 

 through the forest from the town of St. Ignace ; 

 and, as many of them were women, they routed 



1 This remarkable story is told by Ragueneau, Relation des Hurons^ 

 1648, 56-58. He was present at the time, and knew all the circumstances. 



